Tendered meat



TENDERED MEAT Filed April 8 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet l \nvenTor \JQSQPh P q 33 330. 33 I ATTys.

Patented Jan. 14, 1941 PATENT OFFI TENDERED MEAT Joseph P; Spang, Quincy, Mass, assignor to Cube Steak Machine Company, Inc., Boston, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application Aprilii, 1939, SeriaI'NO. 266,847

3 Claims.

lhis invention relates to the tendering of steaks and similar cuts of meat.

One method commonly used for tenderizing steak is to cut in one face of the steak two series of slits with the slits of each series extending parallel to each other and those of" one series crossing those of the other series, all the slits extending nearly but not quite through the steak, thereby leaving a thin uncut film on the oppositeface of the steak. Withthis method" of treating steaks, the fibres andtissues in one face and in the body of the steak are cut but the fibres in the thin film on the other face of the steak remain uncut. While this film serves to hold the steak together, yet when the steak is broiled, there is .a tendency for it to curl up unless the meat is first cooked upon the'cut surface. Another known way of tenderizing steak is to form in one side of the steak a plurality of'para allel slits which extend nearly but not quite through the steak and then to form in the oppositeside of the steak anotherseries of cuts or slits which extend atright anglesto' thoseon' the first-named side of the steak, these latter slits also extending nearly but not quite through the steak. With this manner of tenderizing the steak, the body of the steak will be cut into cubes but each face of the steak will present parallel'ribbon-like films with the ribbon-like films onone face of the steak extending at right angles to those on the other facethereof. This'method of tenderizing steak has the advantage that both sides of the steak are alike and that-when the steak-is broiled it"will not curl up but will lie fiat and will have a tendency to drawtogether.

As stated above, a steak which is tenderized'as next above described will present on each face parallel ribbon portions, the ribbon portions on oneface extending at right angles to those-on-the other face. 1 a

When in tenderizing a steak, as. last above described, thereby to produce the ribbon-like films on each face of the steak, the slits are :allofithe same depth and extend very nearly through the steak from one face to the other, it sometimes happens that in cutting thesecond series of slits. in the steak some of the thin ribbon-like films become torn or ruptured transversely, thus opening a hole in the steak which not only interferes with the proper broiling of the steak; but also makes the steak difficult to handle. Furthermore, it sometimes happens that in handling steaks whichare tenderized in this way, the ribbonpor tions in one face break through at some point, whichwillproduce a hole through the steak, and

if I the break contin'ues through several adjacent ribbons, the steak maybe opened up to a very undesirable extent. I

In order to prevent the happening of such occurrences, I propose to so treat the steak that each of the ribbon-like film portions will'be thicker in some places than in otheriplaces. Such thicker portions of the ribbon-like film s form barriers which prevent the tearing of the steak across the ribbons either while it is being cut or while it is being handled between the cutting and the broiling.

In thedrawings wherein I have illustrated some embodiments of my invention: 7

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a slice of steak embodying the invention showing one'face and two edges thereof Fig. 2 is a perspective view of said slieeshowing the opposite face and two edgesthereof;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line 3-3, Fig. 1; g Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of a piece of steak embodying the invention'with a portion of the steak broken out;

Fig. '5' is .a'perspective view'o'f a piece of steak 2 showing a different-embodiment of the inven tion;

Fig. 6 is a section on the broken line 6-43, Fisc Fig. '7 is a sectional view on the line 1'1, Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a'perspective view of aslic'e of meat embodying my invention but having slits which differ somewhat from those shown in' Figs. -1 and Fig.9 is a perspective sectional view on' the right-angular line B -S, Fig. 8'; and

Fig. -10 is a sect'ion on'the line' l0'- -'Ifl;.Fig. 9. In the drawings, I indicates a slice of steak which has been tenderized in accordance with 40 this invention. This steak'is shown as having a plurality of parallel slits; 2,:3,.formed in the face 4 thereof, said-slits extending nearlyrbut not'quite through the steak; andalso extending continuously from one edge ,5 to the oppositeedge-fithere- 5: of. The steak l is formed on the' oppositeface 1 thereof .with another seriesof slits-18, 9, said slits being parallel and extending nearly :but 1 not q te t rou i ath ce t th if s -ij t steak. These slits extend from the edg -etU-to the oppositeed -andh1. hav r h -an u a arrangement to the slits 2 and-3. With thismanher of slitting the meat, the face- 4 thereof will present a plurality of ribbon-like'portions l2 extending from the edge 5 to the edgeG-that arenot cut by the slits 8, 9, and the face 1 thereof will also present a plurality of similar ribbon-like portions |3 extending from the edge ID to the edge II that are not cut by the slits 2, 3, said ribbon-like portions l3 being at right angles to the ribbon-like portions l2.

Heretofore, when steaks have been tenderized in this way, the slits formed in either face or side of the steak have been all of the same depth so that all the ribbon portions l2 or l3 have the same thickness, and each is of a uniform thickness from one end to the other. Where all the cuts or slits are of the same depth and are so made as to leave very thin ribbon-like films on each side of the steak, there is danger that in cutting the second series of slits in the face 1, some of the thin ribbon-like film will be broken or severed transversely, and if such a break continues through several adjacent ribbon-like portions, then an objectionable hole will be formed in the steak which not only makes it difficult to handle, but which also interferes with the proper broiling of the steak. Furthermore, where the steakis tenderized in such a way that all the cuts are of the same depth and are so made as to leave very thin ribbon-like films of uniform thickness on each side of the steak, there is the further danger that, in the handling of the steak between the cutting and broiling operations, some of the thin ribbon portions may become torn or broken, thereby opening up an objectionable hole in the steak.

In order to prevent this from happening, I propose to so form the slits in each side of the steak that certain parts of each ribbon-like film will be thicker than other parts thereof. These thicker portions of the ribbon-like films present barriers which prevent any break which may occur in one ribbon from extending to other ribbons.

In Figs. 1 and 2, certain of the slits are made deeper than the other slits. For instance, in Fig. l, the slits 2 are slightly deeper than the slits 3, and the slits 8 are deeper than the slits 9, so that each ribbon portion I3 will be thicker at the points I4 opposite the slits 3 of lesser depth, while the ribbon portions I2 will be thicker at places I5 opposite the slits 9 of lesser depth.

This is illustrated in Fig. 3, which is a fragmentary section on the line 33, Fig. 1, the section being taken above the bottoms of the deeper slits 2 but below the slits 3 of lesser depth. The thickness of the ribbon-like films 3, which are formed by the parallel slits 8 and 9, is determined by the depth of the slits 2 and 3, and Fig. 3 shows that the portions of said films beneath the shallower slits 3 are thicker than beneath the deeper slits 2.

By cutting the meat in this way, the danger that any ribbon portions will become broken during the formation of the slits on the second side of the meat is greatly reduced, and, by reason of the fact that each ribbon-like film has some portions thicker than others, there is much less danger that these ribbon-like films will become torn during the handling of the steak. In the center portion of the slice of meat the slits 2, 3, cross the slits 8, 9, thereby cutting the center of the steak into portions I30 which are square in cross section and which connect the film-like ribbons l3 on one side of the slice to the film-like ribbons I2 on the other side of the slice. This is illustrated in Fig. 4.

Another Way of making the ribbon portions of the steak thicker in some places than in; others, would be to make each slit of varying depth. In Figs. 8 and 9, 20 indicates a piece of steak provided in one face 26 with parallel slits 2|. These slits are so formed that they are deeper in certain places than at other places. For instance, in Fig. 9, which is a section taken on the angular line 99, Fig. 8, the slit 2| is deeper at the points 23 than at the points 24. Similarly, the crossing slits 25 which are made in the opposite face 29 of the steak will each have a varying depth similar to that of the slits 2|, that is, each slit is made deeper at the points 35 than at other points 36. With this manner of slitting the meat, the ribbon-like film portions 38 on the face 26 of the meat formed by the slits 2| will be thicker at certain places 21 than at other places 31, and similarly, the ribbon-like film portions 28 formed on the opposite face 29 of the meat will be thicker at places 30 thereof than other places 39. The slits 2| in the meat will preferably be made so that the less deep portions 24 of each slit will be staggered with relation to the less deep portions of the adjacent slit, and the slits 25 are so made that the less deep portions 36 of any slit have a staggered relation with the less deep portions 36 of the adjacent slit. Thus the thicker parts 21 of adjacent ribbon-like film portions 38 will have a staggered relation, and the thicker parts 30 of adjacent ribbon-like film portions 28 will also have a staggered relation. This will prevent-a break which might occur in one ribbon portion from extending through adjacent ribbon portions.

In the constructions above described, all of the slits are continuous from one edge of the slice to the opposite edge. In another embodiment of my invention, which is shown in Figs. 5 and 7, the slits are not continuous from one edge to the opposite edge of the meat, but instead the tenderizing is done by forming short slits 33 in each face of the steak, the slit preferably being arranged in parallel rows and the slits in one face extending at an angle to those in the other face. The slitting may also be done so that the short slits 33 in any row have a staggered relation to those in adjacent rows, and I prefer to so form the slits that some of the slits will be of less depth than other slits. For instance, the slits indicated at 33b have a less depth than those indicated at 3311. This manner of slitting the meat serves to cut the fibers and tissues and yet leaves a steak which will hold together not only while it is being out, but while it is being handled subsequent to cutting. Moreover, both faces of the steak are cut in the same way so that it makes no difference which side of the steak is cooked first.

Moreover, when the steak is slit, as shown in Fig. 5, each face of the steak will still present ribbon-like film portions, such ribbon-like films being the portions of the steak between the rows of short or interrupted slits.

In Figs. 1 and 2, the slits are shown as uniformly spaced, but my invention is not limited to having the slits thus uniformly spaced, as it would be within the invention to so slit the meat that there would be a random spacing between the slits in either face of the meat.

I claim:

1. A steak having a plurality of parallel slits formed in each side thereof, each slit extending more than half Way through the steak, and all the slits on either side extending in the same direction, the direction of the slits on one side being at an angle to the direction of those on the other side, whereby said steak presents on each side parallel ribbon-like film portions, said slits being so formed that each ribbon-like film portion has a varying thickness.

2. A steak having a plurality of parallel slits formed in each side thereof, each slit extending more than half way through the steak, and all the slits on either side extending in the same direction, the direction of the slits on one side being at an angle to the direction of those on the other side, whereby said steak presents on each side parallel ribbon-like film portions, said slits being so formed that each ribbon-like film portion is thicker at some points along its length than at other points.

3. A steak having a plurality of parallel slits formed in each side thereof, each slit extending more than half way through the slice and all the slits on either side extending in the same direction, the slits on one side extending at right angles to those on the other side, whereby said steak presents on each side parallel ribbon-like film portions, the slits which determine the thickness of the ribbon-like portion on either side of the steak having portions of varying depth, whereby each ribbon-like film portion is thicker at some points than at other points.

JOSEPH P. SPANG. 

